Editorial: Renewing our faith in government

Friday, Sept. 28, 2001 | 4:26 a.m.

When George W. Bush entered the White House in January as the nation's 43rd president, he was viewed as having the potential to be the most conservative president since Ronald Reagan. Some political observers thought he might even outdo Reagan in rolling back the federal government's influence. But the horrible events of Sept. 11 have upended that conventional wisdom -- at least for now. The president has increased dramatically the role and scope of the federal government as the United States responds to the terrorist acts that killed more than 6,000 people in a single morning.

Overall Bush has made the right moves in having government aggressively tackle this crisis -- internationally, domestically and militarily. Bush wants $17 billion more for national defense and he and Congress already have passed a $40 billion spending bill to help rebuild New York and the Pentagon. In addition, the president agreed to a $15 billion bailout for the airline industry, which has laid off more than 100,000 employees because business has fallen off so sharply after the terrorist attacks. Just last week Bush outlined a significant increase in the federal government's oversight of air travel security, including the temporary stationing of National Guard units at airports.

The president's approval ratings are incredibly high as he has increased the government's role in the lives of Americans, and a significant number of conservative Republicans are following his lead in proposing more federal spending in other areas as well, as the Wall Street Journal pointed out in a news story last week. For instance, Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is advocating $71 billion in tax-exempt bonds and loans to build high-speed railways around the nation. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, also supports a large boost in spending on Amtrak, which she believes is a viable alternative to air travel.

But there is a growing sentiment among some conservatives that this round of more government involvement is dangerous. Grover Norquist, who has close ties to the White House and who also runs the conservative group Americans for Tax Reform, told the Wall Street Journal that supporters of more money for Amtrak "should be hanged as war profiteers." Norquist's statement is beyond the pale, but it fits right in with a hostile attitude toward the federal government that is deeply imbedded in the beliefs of a sizable portion of the Republican Party and the conservative movement in general.

Norquist definitely is not in touch with the rest of the nation, which understands the need for government to aggressively meet the challenge during this crisis. A Washington Post / ABC News poll last week found that for the first time in three decades a majority of Americans say that they trust the federal government to "do what is right." The level of confidence is almost double what it was in April 2000.

The main reason why public confidence had dipped so low is that for the last 20 years Republican presidents and high-ranking GOP members of Congress have led a constant drumbeat to demonize government. In advocating deregulation and the privatization of vital government services, in many respects they have succeeded in turning government, and all of its hard-working employees, into the enemy. Government workers are far from the enemy. They are our friends and neighbors. They were the police officers and firefighters who lost their lives trying to save people trapped in the World Trade Center. In short, these government employees are there to help us, often in our time of greatest need.

Many conservatives want to keep gutting the scope and size of government. But the events of the past two weeks have demonstrated just how important it is to have a strong, responsive government that will protect us from harm. For that matter, our society also has core values that are important for the government to preserve, starting with freedom. The Sept. 11 terrorist attack has reawakened the realization about how important government is in our lives -- and how helpless we would be without it.